I grew up in Long Island, NY surrounded by some of Long Island’s best basketball coaches as my siblings and I all watched our father coach high school basketball for 29 years.  We all attended St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset, NY and both my brothers and my sister went on to play college basketball as I chose lacrosse.  While at St. Mary’s, I was a two sport athlete playing basketball for legendary Division 1 head coach Tim Cluess, it was his passion which helped spurn my desire to coach.   Coach Cluess was the consummate professional and took his ability to drive his athletes very seriously, he was relentless and taught us that failure was not an option.  Under Coach Cluess, I was selected Team Captain and the starting point guard guiding the team to the Catholic league finals, falling just short to arch rival Chaminade.  A loss that still sits with me today.  I am truly blessed to have played for Coach Cluess whom I still consider a friend and mentor, alongside with my father I have been guided by some very special coaches.  As a lacrosse player at St. Marys, I was a three year varsity player and two year captain earning All-Catholic League honors my senior year, an award presented to me by two more legendary coaches, Jack Moran of Chaminade and Bill Tierny of University of Denver.

Taking my fathers advice to play at a small school, I accepted a scholarship to Marist College to play Division 1 lacrosse.   While at Marist, I was a four year starter and a two year captain, finishing my career with 175 points (ranked 9th all time) the most points scored by a midfielder in Marist College history,  a record that has stood for 25 years.  I finished my career with 93 goals (ranked 10th all time) and 92 assists (ranked 7th all time).   I had a breakout year my sophomore season tallying 55 points, unfortunately those rankings are lost to time.    I finished my Junior year in 1996 tallying 59 points leaving me ranked 18th in the country for total points and 5th in the country in assists.   That season I earned First Team-All-MAAC.  The following fall Inside Lacrosse Magazine selected me as a pre-season Honorable Mention Division 1 All-American.   I owe this accolade directly to another stellar Division 1 Head Coach and Professional MLL coach Tom Mariano,  hands down the best X’s and O’s lacrosse coach I have ever had.    I finished my career leaving a mark on the MAAC conference as well as I am still currently ranked 7th in assists and 19th in total points.   My favorite memory of college lacrosse are the long van rides I took with my teammates, I haven’t laughed so hard since.  It doesn’t matter what Division you play in college, you play for your teammates and coaches, that’s all that matters.  Love this game, blessed now to be able to give back and coach my sons, the same that my father did for me and my siblings.

I currently reside in Spring Lake Heights, NJ with my beautiful wife Michelle and my four sons, Matthew (2025), Kieran (2026), Brendan (2033) and Caden (2038).  Professionally, I am the owner of Schneider & Sons Pest Management.  I have been a volunteer coach in the Shark River Lacrosse program for 7 years and have been coaching the Mad Dog 2026 team for 2 years and recently, this July, became the Director of NJ Shore Lacrosse as well as a Co-Head Coach on the National 2026 team.